Cboe is reportedly exploring the launch of VIX perpetual futures, which is still in the early stages

Cboe is exploring the launch of perpetual futures linked to the VIX index, which is still in the early stages, with no contract specifications yet and no filing documents submitted. This news comes from Bloomberg. The VIX index measures the expected volatility over the next 30 days as reflected by the pricing of S&P 500 options. As investors buy options to hedge against a sharp market downturn, the demand for options during downturns surges, thereby raising the index, which is regarded as Wall Street's "fear gauge." Perpetual futures were first proposed by economist Robert Shiller in 1993 and were later commercialized by the cryptocurrency industry.

A mature derivatives ecosystem has formed around the VIX, covering futures, options, and exchange-traded products that track the index. However, futures come with an expiration date, and when the contract terminates, traders must roll over their positions or transfer their bets to the next available contract. This rolling operation is costly and erodes returns, which was a major criticism faced by Bitcoin futures ETFs when they debuted at the end of 2021. In contrast, perpetual swaps never settle and instead use a funding rate mechanism to anchor the contract price to the spot index, theoretically providing investors with an investment channel that closely reflects the actual VIX spot price. Martin Lee, Head of Market Insights at DWF Labs, told CoinDesk that traders do not need to worry about expiration and value decay, as long as they focus on assessing the direction of the underlying asset. He expects a strong trend of "perpetualization" to emerge in the coming months.

The cryptocurrency exchange camp has also made early attempts, with Gate having launched VIX/USDT perpetual contracts; however, market liquidity is extremely scarce, with almost no trading volume.